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+ + + In Nomine Jesu + + +
Please join me in prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
One part of my extended family had a cottage in northern Minnesota, on the Prairie River that fed into Big Sandy Lake. My immediate family and I would occasionally go there in the summer, doing such things as water‑skiing and canoeing. I recall one time canoeing a great distance with one of my cousins. We went out upriver against the current, so that we could come back downriver with the current. What we did not count on for the trip back was the wind’s being against us. So much was the wind against us that the wind drove the canoe back more than the current carried it forward. As I grew tired of paddling and despaired of our return, my older cousin had to encourage me that we would make it back or that at least someone would come and get us with the speedboat. That whole experience vividly came back to me as I, in preparation for this sermon, reflected on today’s Gospel Reading. In the Gospel Reading, for example, we heard that the disciples were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them, and that Jesus came to them, walking on the sea, and encouraged them, saying, “Take heart; it is I; do not be afraid.” I have paraphrased those words of our Lord for the theme for this sermon: “Take heart! It is Jesus! Do not be afraid!”
The Gospel Reading tells us that, immediately after Jesus fed the five‑thousand, He made His disciples get into the boat to go before Him to the other side, presumably knowing what would happen to them on the sea. When evening came, probably using His divine powers, Jesus saw that they “were making headway painfully”—the original Greek behind that phrase might be more‑literally translated that the disciples were “distressed” or “straining at rowing” (ASV, NKJV) or “were being tested in the driving of the boat”. Just before dawn, Jesus came to them, walking on the sea, meaning to pass by them, perhaps to show them Who He was as God, as God had passed by Moses and Elijah in weather-related events (Exodus 33:22; 34:6; 1 Kings 19:11‑13). But, the disciples thought Jesus was a ghost, and they cried out in their terror. Immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I; do not be afraid.” Jesus got into the boat with them, for the second time in St. Mark’s Gospel account, a storm miraculously ended, and the disciples were utterly astounded, apparently at these latest revelations of God’s glory in the man Jesus Christ.
Unlike the people of Gennesaret who immediately recognized Jesus when they got out of the boat there, the disciples did not recognize Jesus earlier walking on the sea. Had the disciples understood, had they reflected theologically on, how the five loaves fed at least five‑thousand people and still filled twelve baskets with pieces left over, they might not have thought Jesus was a ghost and been so terrified, or thrown into confusion, when they saw Jesus walking on the sea. Apparently they did not expect Jesus to come to them, not right then, not in that way. How are we like them? When we are distressed and tested, do we expect Jesus to come to us? When do we expect Him to come? In what way do we expect Him to come? What do we think about how He comes? Do we understand His miracles enough to know that whatever we need is possible for Him? On our own as sinners, we do not, and we deserve temporal and eternal death.
This past Wednesday night in our Midweek Bible Study, in connection with Joshua’s telling of God’s conquering the northern part of Canaan for the Israelites, we discussed the matter of people’s hardening their hearts and then sometimes God’s hardening their hearts further (Joshua 11:20). Before God might harden one’s heart further, there is still time to repent and believe the Gospel, as was the case in today’s Gospel Reading for the disciples, and as likely is the case today for you and for me. God calls us to turn in sorrow from all our sin and from our sinful nature; He calls us to trust Him to forgive our sin for Jesus’s sake; and He calls us to want to do better than to keep on sinning. When we so repent, then God forgives our sin, whatever it might be. Jesus says to us, “Take heart [or “have courage”]; it is I; do not be afraid.”
Nearly thirty years ago, as some may recall, Dan Rather, then anchor of the C‑B‑S Evening News, signed off his broadcasts with the single word “Courage!” Dan Rather was so ridiculed and parodied that he dropped the line after only one week. Dan Rather could only call for courage, but our Lord can also give courage. In summoning the disciples and us to “take heart”, “have courage”, or “be of good cheer”, Jesus also gives what is necessary for that heart, courage, and good cheer. More importantly than being the Creator, Who can transcend His own creation by multiplying loaves and walking on the sea, Jesus is also the Redeemer, Who died on the cross for the sins of all people, including you and me. The Good News of Jesus’s death and resurrection for us forgives the sins and sinful natures of those of us who believe. Thus, the Good News of Jesus’s death and resurrection for us gives us joy and confidence, chasing away our anxiety and distress. In short, the Good News of Jesus’s death and resurrection for us saves us. As the people of the whole region of Gennesaret were made well by touching even the fringe of Jesus’s garment with faith in Him, so we who have faith in Jesus are saved as He touches us through His means of grace.
As we heard in today’s Old Testament Reading (Genesis 9:8-17), God gave Noah and his descendants the rainbow as a sign of His covenant with them that water would never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. For us, God uses the water of Holy Baptism not only as a sign of His covenant with us but also to forgive our sins, rescue us from death and the devil, and give us eternal salvation. As we who are baptized privately confess the sins we know and feel in our hearts, our pastor’s words of individual Holy Absolution are not only a sign of God’s forgiveness but also actually effect God’s forgiveness for us. And, bread and wine in Holy Communion are not only signs of Jesus’s presence with us, but by them He is really, physically present with His body and blood, and thereby He forgives our sins and so gives us life and salvation. Jesus, Who multiplied loaves and walked on the sea, can certainly also be present with His body and blood in bread and wine! So, whether by water, words, or bread and wine, “Take heart! It is Jesus! Do not be afraid!”
As Jesus so touches us and saves us through His means of grace, we, like the people of Gennesaret, run about the whole region and bring those in need of Jesus’s help to this place, where we hear and know that He is. When we, like the disciples, are making headway painfully, being tested in the course of our lives, we trust God to be present with us and to enable us to endure the testing until He sees fit to deliver us in His way and in His time. As we prayed in the Collect, He strengthens our faith and gives us courage to believe that in His love He will rescue us from all adversities. As our Pilgrim Lutheran congregation in the Voters’ Meeting following this service will consider reaffirming its commitment to go forward with our building project, today’s Epistle Reading (Ephesians 3:14-21) appropriately reminded all of us that God is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us. (Of course, whether or not God will do so in regards to our building project is another matter.)
Eventually, my cousin and I paddled our canoe, tacking against the wind, back to the dock at their cottage. Jesus did not come to us walking on the Prairie River, but that does not mean that He did not then or does not now help us in other ways. We who repent and believe recognize Jesus’s coming to help us in His Word and Sacraments: forgiving our sins, strengthening us for the journey, and ultimately giving us life and salvation. “Take heart! It is Jesus! Do not be afraid!”
Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
+ + + Soli Deo Gloria + + +